A conventional tang and ratchet wrench is shown in FIG. 1. As shown, an enclosed box portion 101 is provided in the wrench head integrally formed with a handle 10. A drive gear 11 is provided in the box portion 101. The drive gear 11 comprises a tang 111 extended downwardly, a top rotating disc 112, and an external drive teeth 113 provided between the tang 111 and the rotating disc 112. A larger circular portion 102 overlapping a smaller circular portion are provided recessed into an edge of the box portion 101 and are in communication therewith. A reversing pawl 12 having pawl teeth along an outer side and a detent notch on an inner side is provided in the larger circular portion 102. A spring biased rod 13 is anchored in an aperture (not shown) in the wrench head and is biased against the detent notch of the reversing pawl 12. A reversing lever 14 is projected from a cover plate located on top of the wrench head and is adapted to control the pivoting of the reversing pawl 12 for switching directions between driving (i.e., force exerted upon a workpiece by the handle 10) and ratcheting of the workpiece. As shown in FIG. 2, after loosening a workpiece by counterclockwise turning the handle 10, a user may turn the rotating disc 112 to rotate the tang 111 for removing the workpiece quickly rather than turning the handle 10 clockwise and counterclockwise alternately. However, the ratchet wrench is bulky due to the provision of the reversing pawl 12 and the reversing lever 14 both at one side of the drive gear 11.
Another conventional tang and ratchet wrench having reduced size as an improvement of the above tang and ratchet wrench is shown in FIGS. 3 to 6. As shown, an enclosed box portion 201 having drive teeth 202 around its interior surface is provided at the wrench head integrally formed with a handle 20. A drive gear 21 is provided in the box portion 201. The drive gear 21 comprises a tang 211 extended downwardly, a top rotating disc 212 having a knurled annular edge, a recess 213 provided between the tang 211 and the rotating disc 212. A reversing pawl 22, having two spaced pawl tooth sections on one side and a detent notch on the other side, is pivotably provided in the recess 213 by a vertical shaft 25 inserted through the rotating disc 212 and the reversing pawl 22 into a bottom of the recess 213. A pivotal knob 24 disposed on the drive gear 21 and a spring biased rod 23 biased between a downward shaft of the knob 24 and the notch of the reversing pawl 22 together are adapted to control the pivoting of the reversing pawl 22 for switching directions 11 between drive and ratcheting. As shown in FIG. 4 specifically, the right pawl teeth 222 of the reversing pawl 22 matingly engage with the teeth 202 and the left pawl teeth 221 thereof are disengaged from the teeth 202 because the notch of the reversing pawl 22 is biased by the rod 23 in a process of loosening a workpiece by counterclockwise turning the handle 20. At this position, there is no space available for turning the drive gear 21 counterclockwise further because the side adjacent the left pawl teeth 221 is engaged with a wall of the recess 213. As a result, the drive gear 21 rotates counterclockwise. As shown in FIG. 5 specifically, after the workpiece has been loosened, the handle 20 is motionless. The right pawl teeth 222 are urged by the teeth 202 to retract inwardly when the rotating disc 212 turns counterclockwise. As such, a user may rotate the rotating disc 212 counterclockwise to quickly remove the workpiece.
As shown in FIG. 6 specifically, for switching the direction of drive and ratcheting, it is required to turn knob 24 counterclockwise for matingly engaging the left pawl teeth 221 with the teeth 202. The counterclockwise rotation of the knob 24 is the same as that of the drive gear 21. However, such counterclockwise rotation of the knob 24 for overcoming the elastic force of the rod 23 may also rotate the drive gear 21. As a result, the desired direction change of drive and ratcheting is not possible. For solving this problem, the user has to use the other hand to hold the rotating disc 212 or the tang 211 for fixing the drive gear 21 to prevent its rotation when turning the knob 24 counterclockwise. As an end, the purpose of turning the knob 24 and the drive gear 21 in the same direction for direction change of drive and ratcheting can be achieved. However, such tang and ratchet wrench also has the problem of inconvenience in use despite its reduced size. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.